


harder, faster, better, stronger

by 4n0n



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Rin-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-08 06:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11640960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4n0n/pseuds/4n0n
Summary: Rin contemplates while she beats up a practice dummy.





	harder, faster, better, stronger

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all recognizable characters belong to Kishimoto.

 

Rin viciously slams her fist into the practice dummy. Her knuckles protest and she can hear the specter of her medical instructor, long dead and rotting in a Kiri swamp, admonishing her.

 

Take _care of your hands, girl. How will you save your comrades if you destroy them._

 

Obito had driven a kunai through her left hand in a memorable sparring accident. Obito had seen the blood and promptly panicked, apologizing profusely. In the end, Sensei lectured Obito on sparring safety while Rin healed her hand. Then Kakashi questioned Obito's abilities and a full on brawl erupted. Sensei never got around to advising her on her defense as he had to break up the fight. He was and is a busy man, as is her remaining teammate. Rin slams another fist into the dummy. She has not been put on any important missions since they came back from Iwa, neither has Kakashi but he had been under review from the Uchiha and the Council. His next mission is already scheduled now that that particular bomb has been defused. But Rin has not received any orders.

 

 

Reading beneath the underneath that is what shinobi do and everyone can tell what it means that Rin isn't getting sent out. No one is saying anything where she can hear anymore not after the fight but she is aware of the looks, the conversations that trail off when she enters a room. What are the chances after all that a venerated teenage genius Kakashi fucks up? Unlikely, very unlikely. In a long arc her foot connects with the dummy. Obito, fool that he was convinces the genius to go after her, the hostage, the damsel in distress. Another kick, followed by a quick succession of punches. Then he gets himself killed for a girl who has no clan, no bloodline-limit, nothing but her abilities as a medic. A girl who is currently off the rooster for sucker punching a comrade. Not that she won that fight. Instead Kakashi had intervened before she could get hurt.

 

Rin's knuckles leave red marks as they connect again. How long has she been here? More than two hours. Her inner medic advises against continuing and she needs new bandages for her hand. With an exhausted sigh, Rin pulls back and sits down.

 

_Stress induced emotional instability._

 

They might as well have printed unreliable on her forehead, she thinks scornfully as she re-bandages her hands. Obito would have cheered her up. Rin takes long gulps of water, then begins stretching, she'd like to do more but overtraining is a thing to avoid not strive for as many of her comrades seem to think.

 

_Obito would have supported me._

 

It's a selfishly, bitter thought and she berates herself the moment it is articulated. But she can't help it. She is angry, immensely so. She consciously has to will her muscles to relax and continues with the stretch. She had hoped that the quiet of abandoned training room and the repeated battering of the practice dummy would help her calm down. But the indignant rage she feels has not simmered down instead is festering somewhere in her chest.

 

A year, heck a couple of months ago, she would have been elated to hear those words from Kakashi, would have licked up every grain of non-negative emotional response like it was the last drop of water in the desert.

 

“It is my **duty** to protect you.” Kakashi had said in response to her request of a sparring session. An she knows or at least tells herself that he didn't mean it like he had put it. Because he's an emotionally stunted little brat at the best of times. But by the Sage! If he were any less small and not so obviously heartbroken over Obito, she would have socked him for that. Not that she thinks she could hit him. Then again, Kakashi probably hates himself enough to let her and that is another can of worms, she is so not touching, right now. One of these days she is going to snap at him, at Sensei and the village in general. Because Obito had been **her best friend**.

 

Rin takes a deep breath that does nothing to calm the churning mix of jealousy and indignation. Obito died because he pushed Kakashi out of the way. But the only reason they had been in the cave in the first place was to rescue her. That was what it came down to.

 

And everyone had acted like she had gone insane when she slugged the drunk chunin who dared to say that the only useful thing Obito ever did was to remove the stick from Kakashi's ass.

 

_Emotional instability._

 

What a fucking joke! Her best friend died. Because she had been unable to fight back, had failed to defend herself. She can tell herself that neither Obito nor Kakashi had noticed the enemy nin approaching. But no one else pointed that out. No one had said.

 

“It's not your fault.”

 

The training room blurs as tears threaten to spill from her eyes. _Hah, at least, I'm keeping the crybaby ninja spirit alive._ She thinks as she wipes her eyes. Obito would have never blamed her, she knows, he was kind like that. Physical training is finished for today but meditation will help her chakra levels. Obito would have cheered her on all the way, offering support and encouragement. So she is going to get stronger, even if her only support is the voice of her dead, best friend. She is going to push herself harder and she is going to be stronger. Kakashi is not the only one who has inherited Obito's will of fire. She is already a healer but she will become a protector like Obito.

 

Rin breathes in and out. Her goal is clear. She finally feels calmer.

 

**Author's Note:**

> It bothered me that we never got to see Rin's reaction to Obito's 'death'. So have my attempt at Rin's emotional training montage.


End file.
